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FEATURED PUBLICATIONS

It has been five years since Egypt and Tunisia underwent regime change, and both countries are still suffering from low economic growth, large fiscal deficits, high unemployment, and rising public debts.

During the Fall 2016 semester, visiting scholar Professor Robert Springborg invited a distinguished group of scholars to address the implications of slowing global integration for the Middle East, a region both harmed and helped by rapid globalization in the late 20th century. Over the course of nine seminars, the group explored issues including postcolonial countercurrents in the Middle East and North Africa, the Iranian nuclear agreement, Egypt's military economy, resource wealth, liberal arts education, economic strain and its impact on Islamism, and the future of the United States' Middle East alliances.

An interview with MEI Faculty Affiliate Asim Khwaja on his work at the Center for International Development's Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) program with the Saudi Ministry of Labor on labor market policy as well as EPoD's Smart Policy Design and Implementation methodology and implications for the future of informed, iterative policymaking.

"The unprecedented combination of political chaos, cross-cutting military confrontations, and strategic contradictions in northern Syria reached a record-setting point two days ago. That was when Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State, and the Department of Defense (DoD) said, 'we call on all armed actors to stand down and take appropriate measures to deconflict and open channels of communication.'"

In June 2016, three Harvard students received funding from the Middle East Initiative to travel to Za'atari Refugee Camp in Jordan to conduct a process evaluation of the pilot TIGER program. TIGER (These Inspiring Girls Enjoy Reading) is a community-based, non-formal education initiative for adolescent Syrian girls in Za'atari funded through the UNHCR Innovation fund, implemented by International Relief and Development (IRD) and designed and supported by Open Learning Exchange.

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Apply now to be our full-time Student and Outreach Coordinator! Work closely with the MEI Director and staff implementing a broad variety of programs focused on advancing public policy in the Middle East.

About MEI

The Middle East Initiative (MEI) engages public policy issues in the Middle East by convening academic and policy experts, collaborating with regional partners, and developing the next generation of leaders.